Why Free-Write?

Dear Brave Ones and the not-so-brave, This week in Brave Space we touched on some serious fear. How do we dive deeply? Where do we find the permission to do that? And what if we know we can do that, but why should we? What happens if we're just not sure that's where we need to go? What about resistance? What about we're perfectly good writers already so what's the big deal about freewriting? Why bother?

Every week the prompt has a warm-up which is a free-write. For those of you who aren't sure what a freewrite is, it's when you agree to continuously move your pen (and it's best if it's done by hand the old-fashioned way, neuroscientists have proven that we go deeper this way) and you don't bother about grammar or punctuation, and you don't cross anything out you just keep going and spill whatever comes up until the timer goes off. I free-write every day. Here are a few reasons why:

1) it teaches non-judgment - whatever comes up, comes up. No one else can see it, but even if I had to share (and there are workshops where we all share our freewrites).

2) it helps us to get comfortable with and accept our natural voices. Voice is one of the hardest things to get comfortable with and embrace as a writer of any genre. It is a big skill to hone.

3) it teaches us that writing can always be done - we don't need to wait for inspiration - that there is always something to write, so we can be less precious about what we're writing, and much more productive. I use free-writes to jumpstart any assignment I have to do, even commissions.

4) it helps us be more process-oriented in a product-oriented culture, so we can actually learn the tools to manage creating so we aren't overwhelmed when it's time to come up with a product. Those who can freewrite are rarely afraid of a deadline. We know it will be there.

5) it creates more flexibility of mind so we can dance more fluidly on the page, create different combinations of words or ideas and play more. This leads to greater ease with risk-taking and more confidence.

I highly recommend 10 minutes of freewriting a day especially if you find that you sit in judgment of what you write or if you haven't been writing and want to start again. I also recommend free-writes for anyone who has a writing practice that they want to stir up, air out, or just to jumpstart your creative mind.

What do you free-write about or from? I usually have a book of poems beside my bed and on my desk, something I'm dipping into, a newspaper, an article, a novel, a cereal box, anything will work! If I go to a random page, say page 17, and I go to the 5th line, there will be an image. Here's one from Brute by Emily Skaja, (Graywolf Press, 2018), "a red bruise." 5-4-3-2-1, write!

Let me know if you're coming to write with me!